Gary Bass, M.Ed., LPC

Gary Bass has been an LPC for over 20 years. He has worked in private practice, adolescent residential treatment, inpatient and outpatient hospital settings, a group home, community mental health, substance abuse programs, an eating disorder program, EAP and in juvenile detention. Gary has a specialty in anger management. He had a long time private practice in the Dallas, Texas area, prior to moving to Staunton, VA. He is a published author. Prior to becoming a psychotherapist, he had a background in business. One of the major factors that led him to become a psychotherapist was working on his own intense emotions and freeing himself from old, habitual and destructive patterns.

Special Interests

Anger management and intense emotions

Personal and professional development

Growth counseling

Adolescents

Families

Relationships

Couples and marital counseling

PTSD

Depression, anxiety and grief issues

Asperger’s

Sexual and physical abuse

Effective Communication Skills

The process of change

Creative Imagination

Philosophy

Gary believes counseling is simply learning new rules to apply to life when the old rules are no longer working nor desirable. As children, one of our first major coping skills is learning to suppress feelings and thoughts when faced with experiences we are not yet ready to deal with effectively.

At that moment, it’s like Life hands us a backpack in which we store suppressed thoughts, and emotions. We continue suppressing and filling the backpack as a life coping skill. We develop Comfort Zones, habits, repeating experiences and our Rules of Life. What goes into the backpack remains there until dealt with and honored. The increasing weight of the backpack results in pain, which is the main motivating factor toward change. However, all change comes with discomfort and it is important to be able to work effectively with that discomfort in order to create change.

Utilizing a process of ‘acknowledging what is’, ‘honoring one’s truth’, ‘self-empowerment’, and ‘igniting vision and creative imagination’ allows for transformation of the old into a desired and intentional present. We learn to view discomfort with a new awareness-as a new possibility. As the backpack empties and grows lighter, life becomes easier. As we learn and grow, we have an opportunity to experience new definitions in such areas of life as Relationships, Work, Love and Self. It is an exciting journey I continue to take and I look forward to, and would feel honored to, accompany you for part of yours.

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Shenandoah Valley Center for Integral Counseling is a place where you can find support and deep acceptance for who you are, feel better about yourself and your life, explore new ways of living your life and more.